These were our best, brightest, and most awe-inspiring chicken recipes of the year.

There's a reason that everything unknown "tastes like chicken." It's because we want it to taste like chicken. It's the most versatile, customizable, and crowd-pleasing meat on the planet. From battering and frying to coating in koji to smothering in yellow adobo, you can cook chicken in just about any way imaginable, and over the past year, we did. These were our best new chicken recipes in 2016, and yeah, there's soup.

Depending on your personal preference, you can brush off and discard the peppercorns before cooking, or leave them on for stronger flavor. One of our food editors says this chicken adobo recipe is actually the greatest of all time.

As you’re crisping the rice for this chicken salad recipe, the leeks and carrots may look very dark. Don’t be scared or angry at us; the veggies aren’t burnt, they’re just deeply caramelized and will add lots of flavor to the final dish. Check out step-by-step photos here.

At Pietro’s, the cooks deep fry the chicken cutlets in a large, wide skillet, which allows the oil to come up to temperature very quickly and stay there once the cutlet is added. Smart, but potentially messy (it’s a lot of oil!). If you have a Dutch oven with high sides, that will minimize splatter—we’d feel rotten if you got burned.

The traditional stuffed pork roast is so delicious but so laborious. This chicken has all the same garlicky, herby flavors—not to mention lots of crispy bacon bits—and it’s optimized for a weeknight meal.

This sandwich is engineered for maximum impact. Each element is awesome, but it’s the way they come together that puts it over the top. Mmmmm, yeah. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

If possible, plan in advance for this easy chicken recipe; letting it chill for 2 days after being seasoned has a huge impact on the flavor and also gives the skin time to dehydrate, which magnifies its crispy potential.

If you’re not following our weekly meal plan and not making the Grilled Cheese (though you really should; it’s delightful), which you need wheat bread for, use country loaf or sourdough bread, crusts removed, for optimal breadcrumbs for this chicken stew recipe. Check out step-by-step photos here.

Though widely accepted as the national dish of the Philippines, no two adobos are the same. This one calls for an unapologetic amount of turmeric, which has a somewhat bitter, definitely earthy flavor, and those deep, dark notes are backed up by charred coconut. This recipe is from Bad Saint, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

Chicken soup is the ultimate comfort food. This healthy version packs spicy flavor, thanks to jalapeño. The squash and cabbage greens are seasonal and healthy, but you can add whatever veggies you like.